The fight is about who runs elections, not whether terror grants exist. Courts have already pushed back on several moves built on false claims of widespread voting fraud.
TL;DR: Judge Amir Ali said FEMA and DHS cannot hang election conditions on counterterror grants. The summer plan would have held back 20% of a program worth more than $1bn. Cities and counties won this round.
Status note: Checked 29 September 2026 against AP reporting via WRAL. Appeals can follow.
What the judge decided
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali wrote a 24-page opinion finding agencies lacked Congress authority to add those conditions, and that the conditions did not meet legal tests tying them to the grant purpose.
A FEMA antiterrorism notice said 20% of awards for states and urban areas would be withheld until jurisdictions met election demands. The program totals more than $1 billion across about 56 grants.
What Washington wanted
The list included verifying citizenship of registered voters and election workers, plans to leave barcode or QR-code counting for hand-marked paper ballots, and proof of audits.
Plaintiffs from Columbus, Ohio; Nashville; and several Texas counties argued FEMA has never been an elections regulator. Twenty-five state attorneys general or governors filed a related challenge.
Why it matters
This ruling keeps terror-mitigation cash from becoming a lever over state ballot rules, at least for now. States still run elections. FEMA still funds counterterror work Congress authorized.
Sources: AP via WRAL.